Darius Rucker’s Wife Shares How She Kept His Opry Invitation a Secret

When Darius Rucker was invited to be the latest member of the Grand Ole Opry by buddy Brad Paisley recently, it wasn’t just the staff and ‘Southern Comfort Zone’ singer who were in on the keeping the secret. Rucker’s wife, Beth, also kept mum about her husband’s Grand Ole Opry invitation — and for nearly two months.

Because Beth and Darius reside in Charleston, S.C., the singer’s wife had to devise a way to travel from Charleston to Nashville, Tenn. without Rucker’s knowing. Naturally, this required some covert planning on Beth’s part.

“What we were going to do is send Darius on the bus then 15 minutes later the band bus was going to come by and pick us up,” she told Charleston radio station WEZL. “But then I thought, ‘You know what? That’s ridiculous to have two buses going and it would be so much more fun to ride with him.’”

To keep from rousing any suspicion, Beth kept the request casual. “I was like ‘Hey, we were just thinking about getting out of town for a night… would you mind if we jumped on the bus with you?’ He [Darius] was like ‘Yeah, sure no problem.’ He didn’t think anything of it because I’ve done that before,” she said.

But Beth’s arrival at the Grand Ole Opry House that evening was kept a secret even from Paisley. “Frank Rogers, Darius’ producer — and he also produces Brad — said when Brad got asked to [invite Darius to become a member], Brad was all bummed out because he thought nobody was there, but they were all hiding,” Rucker’s wife explains. “When Brad got offstage with Darius, he saw all these people and he was like ‘Oh my gosh! I’m so happy all these people are here.’”

The couple’s children were also in on the secret. “I cannot believe they had a secret,” Beth admits, laughing. Of course, their children might be a little too young yet to realize the significance of the moment. “When daddy came home, [son] Jack was like, ‘Congratulations on whatever just happened,’” she said.

As for Rucker, it’s safe to say he is still blown away by the honor. “He’s just so honored and awed that he can’t believe it,” Beth revealed. “In fact somebody sent us the YouTube video and I said, ‘Did you watch it?’ and he said, ‘I can’t. I just can’t get through it without crying.’”

The country icon’s wife adds, “Country music is such a family. That’s the epitome of ‘You are a part of our family.’ He’s just so honored.”

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